CC Challenge 1 - 2

[lndsfll]

I've seen numerous posts on here regarding thoughts on CC and the pros and cons. I really think the rigorous preparation for our daughter would be beneficial but the cost is not anywhere near our budget. I know what books they are using but I'm attempting to decipher what the challenge teacher's guide consists of. We completed foundations at home, perfectly fine. The book was a huge help! Same for EEL. Of course we didn't have the accountability of the group but we kept going and pushed through! We loved the way it's laid out.

 

Challenge parents/tutors, What would the Challenge Teacher's book provide for us? Is it worth it if we are doing this at home? I've found some local people selling the but truly do not want to fork over the $100+ if it's something that I can create my own plan for and save our family the costs. Is forming my own plan with this even possible?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated. She needs a strong backbone when it comes to her studies or she gets bored so easily. If you have something you'd like to recommend other than CC, please feel free to help me along. I'll proudly say, sometimes I just don't know what I am doing.

 

Thank you and God bless!

[angela in ohio]

I was a Challenge A Director, and I had my girls in the class, so I am familiar with CC. I made it as challenging as possible within the constraints of the rules of CC, but we ultimately left because it wasn't as rigorous as we were used to and I was supplementing a lot at home anyway.

 

In my opinion, it is a middle-of-the-road level program academically, maybe a good option for people who need the outside accountability, but not rigorous by my estimation. If you don't need that accountability (it sounds like you are fine without it,) there are better choices.

 

I can tell you what I chose for a rigorous path, and many others on the high school board here can share their choices. We followed WTM as a guide personally.

 

And back in the day, the Challenge teacher's guide was really just a schedule of the assignments, same as the students/parents had. The rest was covered in training, and the tutor was charged with fleshing it out. Maybe they have added to it since then, though.

[sunshine]

The cost in my opinion is way too high. I wish I could get my hands on the teacher's guide for Challenge B and 1 but I was told we were not allowed to buy it and that to buy it outside of CC was frowned upon. Not that I care. I will say the Challenge A geography was outstanding and may fork over the money for CA with my last child. 

[Heather in VA]

I agree with Angela. We did not find Challenge to be rigorous or "challenging' (sorry for the pun LOL). In addition, at the levels that would be considered high school it not only is not rigorous but doesn't come close to being what would be necessary for high school credit for really any subject except perhaps math (we didn't do the math part because we don't use Saxon). 

 

 

[shanezomom]

Is there another way could ds get the mock trial experience that happens in Challenge B? Formal logic and debate are the two things ds is wildly excited about for next year.

 

For those of you who supplemented, what did you add?

 

With Challenge A over for the year, ds has scheduled himself for the summer to complete an online class from Professor Carol on Imperial Russia, two Life of Fred Pre-Algebra books, an online creative writing course, some projects from a DVD homeschool art program along with Cat and Dog theology. I hope we (or I) can fit in some self-paced Omnibus since I already paid for it and I think the year subscription will be up in August. I am pretty certain ds would not have made up this plan on his own if it were not for his experience in Challenge A this year. He really stepped up to the independence factor of Challenge A and I don't think we could have that without the weekly group experience.

 

I am concerned, however, to hear thoughts that the program is not full enough for some families. That's why I ask what you would add to meet your goals for your kids. 

[Lori D.]

Shanezomom -- it looks like you're near Pittsburgh, PA, so I've based links and resources on that info. Definitely do some searches and ask other homeschoolers in your area to see what  additional local options are open to you as far as debate and mock government:

 

Mock Trial

- call local high schools in your area to sign up and participate in a mock trial program

- University of Pittsburgh Annual High School Mock Trial

- National Mock Trial

 

Mock Legislative

- YMCA State Youth and Government  (this appears to be the Pittsburgh branch)

- Teen Pact

- Youth Leadership Initiative -- E-Congress

- Junior State of America

 

Model United Nations

- University of Pittsburgh High School Model UN Conference

- National High School Model United Nations

 

Speech/Debate (Forensics)

- call local high schools in your area to sign up and participate on a speech/debate team

- Pennsylvania High School Speech League

- Pittsburgh Catholic Forensic League (Catholic, private, and public high school league)

- National Forensic League, Pittsburgh

- National Christian Forensics and Communications Association

- STOA -- Christian Homeschool Speech and Debate

- Christian Communicators of America

 

 

And, of course there is always the option of an online class in Logic -- here are just a few possibilities

- Rolling Acres (Catholic) -- online live Logic

- Angelicum Academy (Catholic) -- Socratic Discussions 

- Veritas Press (Christian) -- Logic 

- The Potter's School (Christian) -- Logic

[angela in ohio]

I'm not impressed with Mock Trial as done in CC. I even had the option, because of low Challenge II enrollment, to put dd in just Mock trial after we left CC, and I didn't. I think finding local resources, like those linked, for actual speech and debate is a much better option. I know Mock Trial is the draw for Challenge B, but I don't think it is worth it to do CC just for that.

 

To beef it up for Challenge A, I did a different math and added a literature-based history/writing course, a grammar book, and a science textbook at home, iirc. We also did the second logic from Challenge B, which is what we use anyway, during the year of Challenge A.

 

 

[G5052]

It isn't worth doing at home. I'm familiar with Challenge A, B, 1, and 2, and have guides for all of those sitting on my shelf.  And BTW, there's language in the front that they're not supposed to be resold.

 

They're a list of assignments with a few extras, depending on the level. So something like this: Henle II Latin: Do Chapter 24, exercises 47-91.  Review deponent verbs and descriptive adjectives.

 

We enjoyed mock trial, but I did a lot of coaching of my student and his partner offline. It was pretty time-consuming for me, but the classroom portion really didn't prepare them adequately IMHO. If you have someone not familiar with debate, cross-examination, etc., it can be a rough go for your students. If I taught it, there's a lot that is not in the guide that I'd add. The guides are like that -- just an outline really.

[Omma]

I'm not impressed with Mock Trial as done in CC. I even had the option, because of low Challenge II enrollment, to put dd in just Mock trial after we left CC, and I didn't. I think finding local resources, like those linked, for actual speech and debate is a much better option. I know Mock Trial is the draw for Challenge B, but I don't think it is worth it to do CC just for that.

 

To beef it up for Challenge A, I did a different math and added a literature-based history/writing course, a grammar book, and a science textbook at home, iirc. We also did the second logic from Challenge B, which is what we use anyway, during the year of Challenge A.

 

Angela,

 

Was this before or after they added Lost Tools of Writing to Challenge A?

 

We found Challenge A to be very challenging for my son in everything except for Science.  We ended up adding BJU Earth Science towards the end of the year.  However, I do not mind this at all as CC Science gave him something fun to do in his otherwise challenging day (keeping in mind that he did not have much background in Latin and that math has always been challenging for him).  I thought the science was good for practicing his research and presentation skills, plus it is good to respectfully listen and consider what others have to say in their reports.  This type of thing you could not adequately do if you were wanting to recreate Challenge A at home.

 

We are now doing MFW Ancients (the 9th grade curriculum) at home, since CC is finished for the year.  We are continuing BJU Earth Science and still doing Latin and just taking Saxon Alg. 1/2 tests each day to find out where to place him.  He thinks his day now is much easier than it was before, BTW!  Of course, I don't think the MFW has fully ramped up yet, but I'm not going to tell him that.  :)

 

For Challenge B, we will endeavor to keep doing MFW Ancients (at half-speed and finishing by the end of June next year), plus the BJU Science which I will have until the end of Dec. when the $99 online special runs out.  Hopefully, we will also finish Saxon Alg. I by the end of the summer, anyway, so I think this will be fine for his 9th grade year.  He can get 1 credit for the Formal Logic class, .5 credit for Mock Trial (under Debate), and the Henle Latin will help prepare him for the following year when he does it again, only this time for credit.  Of course he will also continue with Lost Tools of Writing, too.  He will also do the History of Science research papers on various scientists, study Origins and a short Chemistry unit, but I will not be counting these on his transcript.  These are the credits I plan to give him at the end (someone help me if you think I am missing something):

 

Old Testament Survey -  1

Ancient Literature and Composition -  1

Ancient History   - 1

Algebra I  - 1

Earth Science  - 1

Intro to Formal Logic  -  1

Debate  -   .5

Drum Corps -  1

 

Then the following year we intend to have him do Challenge I as is, with the exception of hopefully moving on to Algebra II.

 

Brenda